Secret Wings
by starwarsfreak95
Summary: It's time for Fang to meet back up with Max. But who is Ava and why is she with Fang? Read and find out. There may be Faxness later on in the story No there will not be Fang O/C . Rated T for author paranoia.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note- This is only the first chapter. If you want more chapters please review (5 reviews isn't too much. Pretty please with Iggy on top? Iggy: Hey! Me: If it works….). R&R! For you non-members out there, that means read and review. You don't even have to log in! All of my stories have anonymous reviews enabled.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride or any characters in the said series. I do own the O/C though. **

Chapter 1

Flying is, without a doubt, the most amazing sensation in the world. I was soaring hundreds of feet above my isolated forest home. It was so beautiful and quiet…and my cell phone's annoying ring tone ruined it.

I checked the text message my dad had sent me, then wheeled back toward the house. Dad was coming home soon, and he didn't know some important things about me. Like that I had wings for example.

I raced home. Thanks to a random genetic quirk, if I held them still, my wings could turn invisible. That had kept them a secret. They were a shiny black with white patches on the long bottom feathers. I turned the TV to one of my favorite shows, and plopped down as though I had been there for a while.

My dad opened the door. "What's up kiddo?" he asked when he put his bag down. I wondered about my dad's "part-time job" as he put it. He sometimes left for indefinable amounts of time and came home battered. He had a web page designing job that he ran out of our home but these "side jobs" brought him home looking like he'd been put in a blender set on "chop." Just like today.

"Dad, come into the kitchen, I'll see to those cuts."

He looked at me with an indefinable expression in the black eyes that so perfectly matched mine, but followed me without a word.

I gathered the first aid supplies, and sat on the counter. I was pretty tall for my 15 years, but I had to sit on the counter to reach my dad's face over six feet in the air.

As I was fixing my dad's face, he said something that would be the beginning of the end of any normalcy in my life, "There are some things we need to talk about, Ava. Things you've asked me about before but it wasn't time yet."

I froze. "You mean, about Mom?" My dad's eyes held a barely contained wellspring of pain.

"Yea about your mom. You see, my name isn't Nick Riderson. It's Fang."

With that beginning, my dad began to weave a tale so far fetched, I almost didn't believe it. He grew up in a dog crate for crying out loud!

He told of scientists and their creations, enemies and betrayals, he also told of family.

He came from a flock of six, then seven, then eight. He told me their names: Angel, the Gasman or Gazzy, Iggy, Nudge, Total, Dylan, and Max. He'd fallen in love with Max, but there had been complications and he had forced himself to leave. **(A/N-For full summary of Fang's story see Maximum Ride series by James Patterson)**

Brokenhearted, Dad went to Dr. Gunther-Hagen and made a deal. There were four elements to the deal. First, he would have nothing to do with his old flock. Second, replace Iggy's blind eyes with ones that work. Third, take Max's DNA and his own to create a child for him to take care of. Fourth, the deal would end in 19 years, giving him time to meet Max, who I now knew as my mom. To finish, he showed me his wings. 20 feet of pitch black glory.

To my surprise, and his, I began to cry.

"So I'm not adopted?" I sobbed.

"Adopted?" I almost laughed at the look on his face. So surprised. "You thought you were adopted?"

"Yes!" I sobbed.

"Why the heck did you think that? We look so much alike!"

"Here's why!" and with that I showed him _my_ wings. Again, I almost laughed at the shocked expression on his face.

"Y-you have wings? But how is that possible?"

"I have this quirk thing. If I hold my wings still, they turn invisible."

"Just like me." he mumbled under his breath.

As he had explained about the flock's mutations, I wasn't as confused as I could've been.

"Can you fly?" he asked, jolting me out of my reverie.

"What did you say?"

"Can you fly?" he repeated.

"Yea, I taught myself."

"Would you like to practice? I have some tricks that I could show you. Then we should rest up. It's a long flight to Arizona."

"You mean…."

"Yep. You are going to meet your mom."

I was floored. I was going to meet my mom! Then the worries began. Would she like me? I have wings. I was created by a scientist. Maybe she doesn't want a daughter!

"It'll be fine," he told me, displaying an Angel-like tendency to know what I was thinking. Again.

"Whatever you say. Now, about those flying lessons…."

One of Dad's rare grins lit up his face. "I thought you'd never ask."

Then we opened up a window an flew off into the night.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: I know that I said that I wouldn't post until I got five reviews, but I'm so thrilled that I've had 2 people put my story on their alert that I had to do it early. Thanks to ShadowDweller97, Confused Believer, and ObsessiveReader1223 for being my first reviewers! I would really like 5 reviews this time though…..**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride or any brand name item I may mention.**

Chapter 2

The next morning, everything was all hustle and bustle. Dad had given me explicit packing directions. I needed one full outfit with old jeans and a t-shirt. I also needed a spare hoodie. I could bring my ipod, its wall charger, my cell phone, and its wall charger. The rest of the space in my backpack was for food.

I packed, dressed, and pulled my hair back in a ponytail to get it out of my face. Dad got ready as well, then we were ready to go. I looked around my room wondering if I would ever see it again.

"We'll come back. Even if it's only to get our stuff."

"I know," I said quietly. Then I shrugged my backpack in place between my wings and followed Dad out of the house.

"Remember what I told you," Dad reminded me.

"Okay, I can do this." This would be my first running takeoff. I usually jumped off the roof or something.

I ran across the grass, snapping my wings out, pumping them hard. I achieved liftoff about four feet from the tree line. This forced me to almost scrape it with my body as I rocketed straight up.

"Ava, watch out!" Dad yelled.

I looked up, and swerved away form a startled bird. I was now flying upside down, wings facing the ground. I turned myself around as Dad went airborne. I frowned, envious. His takeoff was much more elegant than mine.

"Lots of practice," he said at my narrow-eyed look, "Let's go higher."

We soared. Not stopping except for brief periods where hovered while getting something to eat out of the backpacks. Finally we got to the place Dad told me about.

Even with our raptor vision, we couldn't see anyone.

"I wonder if she'll even come," Dad mumbled under his breath. The pain was back in his eyes again.

I looked across the area, "Look!" I cried.

Dad looked in the direction I was pointing and he saw, as I did, the small black shape speeding in our direction. Dad sucked in a breath, exhaling with a sigh. We angled down and landed with much skidding and pebbles. At least I did, Dad's landing looked much like his take off, smooth and quiet.

I went on into the cave while Dad waited on the ledge outside. We had agreed that Dad needed to explain about me first. My heartbeat quickened as I heard another landing. Then I heard voices from the ledge.

"Fang," an unfamiliar voice said. That was my mother!

"I'm sorry, Max," Dad replied. I imagined that the pain was back in his eyes again.

"I'm sorry? I wait for 20 years and all I get is I'm sorry? You should be!" Mom yelled.

"Look, I did what I had to do. It was what was best for the flock. I never wanted to leave you, Max. I loved you so much. I just wanted to help the flock. Speaking of, how is the flock?"

"If I didn't love you so much, I would never accept that from you. Since I do, I accept your apology. As for the flock, they are doing well. We are living in Mom's neighborhood. The CSM money bought us a large house very close to her. The flock and I went to school with Ella. I'm working for Mom in the clinic, I'm a licensed veterinarian, and she is going to give me the clinic when she retires. I actually wear a white coat to work every day ironically enough. Iggy owns a restaurant in the area, he can see now. Nudge is a fashion designer and works at home. Gazzy is a research and development tech at a fireworks factory. Dylan is a freelance photographer and isn't around much. Angel is just about to finish getting her doctorate in child psychology. She has one more year, and is home for the summer. How about you? What have you been doing for the past 20 years?"

"Working off a deal that I would regret but for two reasons. I had no purpose after I left. I wandered around until Dr. Gunther-Hagen caught me. I negotiated my release and ended up working for him until a few days ago."

I must have misunderstood that part when he was explaining it to me. Apparently he was captured, and didn't go to the good doctor on purpose. This, in a strange way, actually made me feel better.

"So why don't you regret it?"

"Firstly, because I negotiated for Iggy to have new eyes."

"That was you?" Mom asked softly, "Thank you. And what is the second reason?"

Uh-Oh. It was my turn. I got up and walked out of the cave. Mom's expression changed to stunned very quickly. Even like that, my mom was beautiful. She had brown eyes and brownish blonde hair that curled exactly like mine. She was paler than I was, by a few shades. She also had a few freckles across her nose, just as I did. She was tall, willowy and graceful. I could see her brown wings tucked in behind her. I then knew with every fiber in my body that I would do anything that this woman asked. She could've asked me to jump off of a building, wings tucked in, and I would've done it. I loved her.

"Who is this?" she asked in a deadly calm voice.

"This is Ava, the other non regret of my deal. While in captivity I realized that if I didn't have anyone to live for, to come home to, you may have made this trip to find a suicide note and an old, dead body. I realized that Max II proved that the whitecoats would have your DNA stored somewhere. I asked them to take your DNA and combine it with mine and create a child. She's mine. Yours and mine."

Mom gaped at us both, "You must be kidding. No way am I having anything to do with her. I have no daughter. I love you Fang, and I'm wiling to let you back into the flock, but this…" she finished gesturing at me with a hand.

My eyes filled with unshed tears.

"It's either both of us or none," Dad said, with steel in his voice, "and don't judge her too quickly."

"Fine. She can come, but don't expect me to interact with her or anything. When do you want to get your stuff from the house you probably own?"

"Tomorrow. I'll rent a van and maybe Iggy can come help me with the big stuff."

"Alright," Mom smiled at Dad and he took her hand, "home we go."

They took off gracefully, hand in hand. This left me to struggle along behind. As I finally got up in the air, I swore something to myself. I swore that my mom would love me, no matter what the cost.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Thanks for being patent! I'm relatively new to the site and these problems keep cropping up. Sorry bout the underlining and itallics where they weren't supposed to be. Sorry I haven't updated in a while! Thanks to all who are reading my story! I would like to reply to some of your posts. Confused Believer-I know that you can wait more patiently than that. Here's what you asked for!**

**To Obssessivereader1223-I don't like the way Max is acting either. Don't worry about Max's attitude, it will improve!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride or any brand name items that I mention.**

Chapter 3

I followed my parents to this huge white house in a clearing. We landed on the ground quietly. I managed to trip over my feet though, thankfully I didn't fall. I followed Mom and Dad up the front steps and through the door into the unknown.

"We're home!" Mom called.

Apparently everyone had stayed home today. 8 people came in from various directions. Three of them were obviously not bird kids, and two were definitely related. They were Hispanic-looking women, one older than the other. They had curly brown hair and brown eyes. The other non-bird kid was an older man. He too, had brown hair, his hinting at grey.

The other 5 were bird kids. They all had that lean, tall look one tended to associate with bird kids. Except me, I'm a shrimp at only 5 ft. 6 inches. The first was a guy with strawberry blond hair and sharp, pale blue eyes that were always moving. His wings were a light brown, like a hawk or eagle. Another was a stylish-looking African-American girl with tawny wings. There were a related-looking pair, an older guy, and who looked like his younger sister. They both had blond hair and baby blue eyes. The boy had a mischievous look and tan wings. The girl had curls and pure white wings. The last one came in almost reluctantly. He had dark blond hair and bright turquoise eyes. His wings were chocolate brown. Their expressions ranged from disapproval to excitement.

Suddenly, I began worrying about what the others would think about me. Mom had totally not accepted me, and I didn't know about her flock. The younger woman was glaring daggers at Dad. I started looking covertly for exits should this get violent.

"You forgave him?" the dagger-glarer screeched.

"Yes, Ella. Sort of," Mom gave her a wry grin.

"I, for one, am glad," the older woman said.

Dad gave her sort of a half grin, "Thanks, Dr. Martinez, It means a lot that you should say that," he nodded his head curtly at the man, "Jeb."

I am so confused!

The rest of the flock greeted the pair and talked to Dad. Then one of them, the blonde, angelic-looking one, said, "Who's this?" with an innocent but slightly mischievous look on her face, making her look like her brother.

Dad gave her a small glare

"Crap," he muttered under his breath, "Thanks, Angel."

I was crushed. He hated me now too! My eyes filled with tears. _That's not what he means._

Huh? I instantly grasped the fact that no one else could hear Angel

_You're quick. He isn't sure how to explain the deal he made with Gunther-Hagen. It's not that he doesn't want to claim you, he loves you. He doesn't want to admit to them that he worked for the doctor. I don't blame him as the doctor killed him once, I was there. Max revived Fang, saving his life. Fang feels like he betrayed Max for working for the man. I almost agree with him._

As Angel explained this to me, Dad was telling the others what he had told Mom. Their eyes got bigger and bigger as he went on. I thought that they were going to pop out of their heads. If it hadn't been so serious, I would have laughed at their expressions.

When Dad finished, they just sat there for a minute, dumbstruck. I was staring intently at my purple Converses when I heard, "Hey Ava! I'm Nudge. Come with me to the kitchen! You must be starving. Iggy made cookies, here have one." I took a cookie. They were delicious! "I wonder where you'll sleep….Hey! I got it! Hey Max, can she have the third floor?"

"Sure, fine"

"It's not the best room in the house," she continued, leading me up some stairs, "but it's all we have left. It's a bit drafty in the winter and warm in the summer, but a fan and a heater should take care of that. It's differently shaped too."

We finally got up there. I opened the door to my new room, and stopped short. It was perfect! It had white walls and lots of windows. There was even a window seat! The room was shaped sort of like a barn, the slanted parts perfect for posters. It had a wood floor that felt amazing beneath my feet. Nudge was still rambling, but I tuned her out as I continued inspecting my new room. I opened the closet. Bonus! It was walk in.

I broke across Nudge, "It's perfect," I told her.

Being uncharacteristically brief she said only, "I'm glad you like it," and smiled.

I began calculating quickly. I would go choose my stuff today, and get what I wanted from the other house tomorrow.

"Nudge," I began, "Would it be okay if I got new furniture? This room is bigger than my old one and could do so much more…"

"That's a great idea! We can go today. I will got the CSM bank card and maybe Iggy or Dylan will come!"

"Okay. I will change clothes and shower. Can I use your bathroom? I don't have any shampoo or anything."

"Go ahead. I will get the car, people who are going, and card. Can you be ready in 30 minutes?"

"Yep!" I smiled. This was the first step into a new life.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: It's been a while since I've updated, and I'm sorry. My only excuse is that school has kept me very busy. I'm sure you guys understand. ;). Sorry it's so short, but this is the shortest chapter so far. Enjoy!**

Chapter 4

My room was going to be beautiful. I had convinced Angel, Nudge, Ella, even Mom to help me paint it. It had a dark purple base, and was splattered with neon pink, green, yellow, orange, and blue. The furniture was dark wood and the rest of the accessories were in many shades of purple and those neon shades interspersed here and there.

We had gone, exhausted, to the kitchen and were greeted with warm chocolate chip cookies, cold milk, and Iggy.

"You guys done?" he asked.

"Yep!" Nudge replied, "It's amazing. I never thought my own ideas and eye for color could be outdone, but Ava has done it."

I smiled, embarrassed, "I think I saw it done somewhere"

"But you did it," Angel said, "Or at least taught us how to make it work."

"I'll go get the others!" Ella volunteered, "Don't do the big reveal without me!"

"Okay!" Mom laughs. She still isn't seeming to really love me, or even like me, but at least she doesn't hate me any more.

"Ready! Come on Ava, you're the one doing the big reveal!" Ella called. Or should I say Aunt Ella? I'm a bit confused.

When everyone's ready, I smile slyly, wink to my fellow conspiriators, and open the door. The looks on their faces are priceless. Gazzy just stood there with his mouth open. Dylan,j who I met while shopping, whistled and said, "I wasn't sure about some of this stuff when you bought it, but you pulled it off." Iggy smiled, "I haven't ever seen this much color in any one place. I would have loved this place even before I got new eyes." Dad came over and hugged me, "So this is why you wanted to redo your old room."

I wanted to burst. I was so happy to feel included in this family. They were such a close knit group, to share even a little of that loved feeling was almost intoxicating.

I walked over to my biggest windows, a non screened pair of door sized things, and opened them.

"Coming?" I called over my shoulder, and launched myself out. I was followed by the others within seconds. Ella and Dr. Martinez stood at the windows and smiled, a bit enviously, but happily.

We had been flying for a while. I was enjoying the sensation of being able to soar without limit, not waiting for the phone call or text message that would call me back to the real world. The world where I had to hide that which made me beautiful. This freedom was amazing.

Suddenly, Mom dropped down on top of me like a stone. I was in freefall for a minute in shock before I remembered to flap. I reoriented myself and was about to complain about the unfairness of that move, when something caught my eye. I saw a falling, bleeding figure, closing in on the ground. I swooped down and caught the figure.

As I was gliding down, holding the figure under the arms I took a closer look at her face for the first time. The blood drained from my face as I recognized hers.

"Ava, are you okay?" Dad called.

I couldn't speak.

"Ava?" he sounded worried now.

I finally got passed the lump in my throat and screamed.

The figure was my mom!


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N- Sorry it's been forever since I've updated... My inspiration disappeared for this story. Over the past while I've updated with a bunch of other one-shot drabbles, but nothing for this. I think, thanks to new user WarriorSkilletFan22, that I've figured out where to go with this story. Thanks! And also- I know this seems very unlike Max, but it gets better, trust me!**

I gathered my wits and landed, running to the house with the others close behind me.

"Ava, honey, what's wro- Oh my gosh, Max!" Dr. Martinez, my grandmother I supposed, ran out and helped me with my mom, "What happened?" she asked as she began inspecting the wound.

"I don't know!" I sobbed, "she suddenly fell on me, I thought it was a joke or something. Then I looked down and saw something falling. I raced to catch it, and when I looked at it, it was her!" I kept crying.

Suddenly, Dad was there holding me tight. I couldn't hear what he and Dr. Martinez said, but I could feel him relax slightly.

"Ava, I need to go in there with Max, okay?" He said to me.

"But-" I swallowed my hurt. Of course he wanted to go to her. He loved her. "Okay," I said past the aching lump in my throat. He hugged me one last time.

"Thanks, kid," He ruffled my hair as he called me by my old nickname. I could only nod as his attention drifted away from me and toward my mother. As he walked away, I felt the burn of tears in my eyes. Ditched by someone I love for someone else I love when I needed them most. I turned away from them and looked down at my clothes.

"I need a shower," I croaked.

"Come on," Angel said gently, "I'll help you get cleaned up."

She led me to the closest bathroom.

"Go ahead and shower," she commanded, "I'll get you some clean clothes to wear." I simply nodded with exhaustion. I looked down at my bloodstained clothes again in disbelief. I wondered how I could have changed so much in such a few short days. From a vaguely normal teenage girl trying to hide her wings from her father that she thought adopted her, to finding that not only did her father have wings, she had a mother that she'd never known. And now her mother was having surgery as her father stood there waiting for her. And I was taking a shower to wash my mother's blood off. I didn't hear Angel come in, but when I got out, my favorite, sharpie doodle covered jeans and my comfiest purple tee shirt were waiting for me.

I made it into the kitchen where they were still waiting for my mother to get out of surgery. I turned to my favorite therapy- food. I ate my way through a very good sized plate of chocolate chip cookies before I realized what I'd done. Then I felt guilty for eating them. An endless cycle. I ran up the three flights of stairs to my attic room.

I looked around at the beautiful room that my mother had helped create for me. I looked out the beautiful picture window to see that the sky had darkened and it was pouring rain. I considered flying anyway, but dismissed it out of hand. I went for the next best thing instead: my aqua colored ipod. I curled up on the window seat with my earbuds in my ears for a bit until I heard Angel's message.

_Max is gonna be fine. You should come see her._

I stowed the ipod in the pocket of my jeans, then walked more sedately down the stairs. I saw everyone gathered around a chair. Then I saw my dad looking at my mom with a sweet, loving smile. Something I never saw on him. I felt a sweeping, fleeting flash of anger at her. Then I mentally smacked myself. _She's my mother, _I thought, _I can't hate her._

She was going to be fine, I overheard the figure of only 12 stitches in her side. Dr. Martinez had gotten the bullet out. Every thing was going to be fine. Great. Wonderful.

Over the next few weeks I saw my dad slowly taken away from me. He'd occasionally crack a smile at me or hug me when he saw me, but more often than not, he and my mother were gone. Off on some date or another. He wouldn't play video games with me, he wouldn't go flying with me, nothing. There were no more tickle fights, no more random surprises, no more anything. I resented my mother more every day. Which I hated about myself.

I was losing my ability to handle it. Losing my ability to be strong always. I spent most of my time flying or listening to music. I felt so alone. I had never felt so alone in my life. My dad was the only person I'd had in the world. Now he was gone. I loved my mom with all my heart, but she hated me. I could see it in the smirks she sent my way when he shut me down to go somewhere with her. I saw it when she insisted that she and he "needed time to get to know each other again" so I couldn't go with them to see a movie I had been dying to see, or a concert of one of my dad and I's favorite bands.

I wasn't wanted here, and that was that. I didn't know how to handle it. Well I had an idea. I could go back home. Dad hadn't sold the house or anything. I knew approximately where it was, and I could make the flight easily now. I just waited. I waited for my mom to change her mind about me.

One cold, wet day, I finally had had enough. I was done being the only unwanted one there. I packed a change of clothes in a backpack with my ipod and snuck downstairs for some snacks. My excuse for if I got caught was a picnic. Not a great excuse, but it would do. Luckily, I wasn't caught. I went back upstairs and wrote a note:

_I'm tired of being unwanted. I'm going home. if anyone wants me, I'll be there. Thanks for all you've done for me, but I can't handle it anymore. Sorry. Ava_

I opened my window and slipped out into the rain. Nothing for it now but to go home.


End file.
